| Abstract: | Money laundering has been practiced in one form or another for thousands of years, dating back well before the birth of Christ, when highly motivated merchants moved their wealth beyond the confiscatory grasp of local rulers. Only in the recent past was the name ‘money laundering’ given to this financial hocus‐pocus. Popularly believed to have derived from Mafia ownership of Laundromats through which an endless stream of cash generated by extortion, prostitution and gambling flowed, ‘money laundering’ did not attract serious interest until the 1980s, and even then it fell primarily within a drug trafficking context. The phenomenon has pushed its way into the public consciousness as a mechanism used not only by traditional ‘underworld’ organizations, but some corporate and financial sector entities as well as individuals. Perhaps the events of 11 September 2001 did more to change the perception of money laundering as public discourse is now focused on methods used by terrorists to secure financing for their nefarious deeds. In point of fact, transnational criminality generally is exploding on a global level and money laundering is the lynchpin of their success. This article presents an overview summary of basic money laundering methods and is meant to help lay the foundation for further exploration. |
